Enhancing U.S.-Japan Energy System Resilience amid Shifting Geopolitical Tensions

Clare Richardson-Barlow is a Lecturer at the University of Leeds and an interdisciplinary social scientist whose research and teaching explore just transitions, energy policy, political economy, and energy governance.

Ken Koyama is Chief Economist and Senior Managing Director at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. Dr. Koyama also is a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo and an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Innovative Research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Jennifer Sklarew is an Assistant Professor for the Environmental Science and Policy Department at George Mason University and brings 30 years of energy and environmental policymaking and analysis to her research and teaching.

Time Stamps

[00:31] Introduction: Today’s conversation builds upon a roundtable that NBR hosted last month in Seattle alongside the Asia -Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Energy Ministerial Meeting.

[3:09] Dr. Koyama, geopolitics play a large role in energy and economic security. How will current geopolitical tensions between the United States and China reshape the future roles of fossil fuels and renewables within Asia’s energy mix?

[7:23] Dr. Sklarew, Seeing as nuclear will play a bigger role within Japan’s energy mix amidst the ongoing energy crisis and its race towards a net-zero economy, do you see this development as an indicator that nuclear power generation is becoming considerably more palatable to the Japanese government and also the public?

[13:48] Japan’s current nuclear energy makeup is around 8 % of its overall energy mix, but the Japanese government aims to have nuclear power makeup 20%–22% of the country’s energy share by 2030. What are the policy hurdles that Japan must overcome to achieve this goal?

[25:18] How do you see the United States and Japan collaborating on key technologies like nuclear and hydrogen at both the government and local levels?

[33:59] Conclusion: Today’s exploration has shed light on many things, including the pressing geopolitical dynamics shaping the role of fossil fuels and renewables in Asia’s energy mix.